Blood-C (Blu-ray) (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	Audio Commentary-x 2 TV Spots-x 6 Trailer-Blood-C trailers x 3 More…-Testless opening and closing songs Trailer-Trailers x 4 for other anime
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	300
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Tsutomu Mizushima Hiroyuki Hata Yukina Hiiro
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Nana Mizuki Alexis Tipton Kenji Nojima Robert McCollum Keiji Fujiwara Bill Jenkins Miho Miyagawa Lydia Mackay Misato Fukuen Lindsay Seidel Atsushi Abe Chris Burnett
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Naoki Sato

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 English Audio Commentary Dolby TrueHD 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, during end credits episode 12

"One’s true nature can be concealed"

     Saya Kisaragi (voiced by Nana Mizuki / Alexis Tipton) lives in a small isolated town in Japan. She is a very sweet, positive young school girl who is tender to animals. She sings light hearted songs on the way to school after having breakfast and coffee at the Café Guimauve and talking to the owner Fumito (Kenji Nojima / Robert McCollum, who had gone to the same school as her father, temple priest Tadayoshi Kisaragi (Keiji Fujiwara / Bill Jenkins). At school the class is taught by the trendy Kanako (Miho Miyagawa / Lydia Mackay) and Saya is friends with Yuka (Masumi Asano / Martha Harms) and the twins Nono and Nene (Misato Fukuen / Lindsay Seidel). The school rep Itsuki (Atsushi Abe / Chris Burnett) has a crush on Saya but she seems drawn to aloof sad / bad boy Shinichiro (Tatsushisa Suzuki / Scott Freeman). And then there is a small stray dog which is watching her!

     Nothing much seems to be happening in Saya’s small town. But behind the scenes Saya, as the daughter of the temple priest, has followed on from her mother as a Temple Maiden and her duty is to slay the Elder Bairns each night with the temple’s sacred sword as they appear. The Elder Bairns are ancient beasts, who take many diverse shapes; they surpass humans and feed on humans and Saya seems to be the only one who can defend the humans of the town. But as the attacks escalate into the daylight hours, and townspeople and Saya’s friends are killed, the mystery of just who and what Saya is becomes crucial. As well, there are others in the town who are not what they seem; as the mysterious dog cautions Saya: ‘one’s true nature can be concealed’.

     Blood-C is the latest in the line of anime from the creators of Blood: The Last Vampire and Blood +. I have read reviews of the series that were quite negative, maintaining that the early episodes drag on listlessly and slowly and that after the final episode you “realise that you’ve just wasted about 6 precious hours of your life” (Blu-ray Definition.com). Don’t you believe it!

     Looking at Blood-C as a stand-alone series, the battles against the always varied Elder Bairns are different, interesting and very bloody. Saya is by no means invincible and gets knocked around and injured a fair bit, adding a vulnerability to the battles, although she appears to be able to recover quickly. In contrast, the sweet high school moments are valid as a counterpoint to the violence and the conflict with the Elder Bairns, though even here there is something weird about the class, and the town itself. As well, a voiceover during each episode raises questions about identity, time, emotions and what defines a person, so there is a lot more here than meets the eye. This is reinforced in early episodes when dying Elder Bairns speak to Saya about honouring “the covenant”, although she has no idea what they are talking about. Then, in episode 11, things and perceptions change completely and abruptly, which goes to the core of the criticism of the series.

     I can understand why Blood-C can be criticised as the shift in reality near the end is huge and could be seen as negating all that has gone before. Yet, throughout the earlier episodes the clues are certainly there, even at first watch; I still found those earlier episodes interesting and I enjoyed Blood-C far more than I had expected to. The bloody battles and gruesome effects as bodies are ripped apart are certainly present, and the print looks wonderful. The pastel amine colours are beautiful, with the greens, yellows and reds wonderful. Vistas of the town and the hillsides, the temple and the sunsets could be framed and hung on the wall while the blood is a deep crimson and the blacks, such as Saya’s hair, deep and perfect. The music by Naoki Sato is also a highlight, being moody, atmospheric, very thematic as well as playful.

     Blood-C delves deeper than the normal slash and blood anime into issues about duty, emotion, nature vs. nurture and reality and looks absolutely spectacular. Don’t believe those who would tell you that the series is slow and boring; it is anything but.

    Episodes 1-8 of the series, plus the audio commentary on episode 6, are on disc 1. Episodes 9-12, plus the remainder of the extras are on disc 2.

Video

     Blood-C is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original release ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG 4 AVC code.

     The print is sharp and detailed with very beautiful amine colours, including nice pastel greens, yellows and blues. The blood is a deep crimson, the blacks, such as Saya’s hair, perfect. Shadow detail is fine, contrast and brightness consistent.

     I did not notice any marks or other artefacts.

     It is anime so lip synchronisation is approximate in either audio track, but it did look better than usual in both.

     The English subtitles in a clear white font are easy to read and seemed error free. They are burnt in when the English dub is selected so cannot be removed. The opening and closing songs are automatically subtitled; in turn about the subtitles are English language / Japanese language, Western text font.

     Blood-C looks spectacular, and the Blu-ray does the print full justice.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 or Japanese at the lesser TrueHD 2.0. The languages cannot be changed on the fly by using “audio” on the remote, but must be changed via the menu.

     This is a case where the original Japanese is 2.0 while the dubbed English is 5.1. The Japanese is surround encoded, has reasonable depth, and music, insect and weather effects occur in the rears. There was even some added bass for trains and thunder. The English dub in this case is very good, with the voice acting a cut above the usual. This audio track has a better separation and resonance, with a range of ambient noise in the rears including weather, insect and animal noises, and especially the music comes over better. There was some sub-woofer use. Either track is good listening.

    The score by Naoki Sato was excellent. It is dramatic, atmospheric, moody and plaintive in turns and adds great support to the visuals. Actress Nana Mizuki, who voiced Saya, wrote the lyrics and sang the closing song Junketsu Paradox.

    Either audio track was very good, but it would have been good to have the original Japanese in 5.1 as well.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Disc 1

Audio Commentary Episode 6

     The commentary is by Jerry Jewell, the US ADR director, and cast member Robert McCollum, the voice of Fumito. This is a pretty inane commentary as they laugh, chat about nothing in particular and give no insight into the film while the English dub runs in the background.

Disc 2

Audio Commentary Episode 12

     The commentary is by Jerry Jewell, the US ADR director, and cast member Alexis Tipton, the voice of Saya. This is a slightly better commentary because there is some discussion about different aspects of Saya’s character but they still laugh a lot and chat about nothing special. The English dub runs in the background.

Original Commercials (2:12)

    Six Japanese TV spots for the series.

Promotional Videos (3:26)

    Two Japanese trailers for the series.

Textless Songs

     Opening and closing songs without the title cards:

• Opening song spiral (1:32)
• Closing song Junketsu Paradox (1:32)
• Closing song Junketsu Paradox (Episode 12) (1:36)

U.S. Trailer (1:16)

    Actually a trailer for this complete set Blu-ray.

Trailers (6:15)

     Trailers for The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, King of Thorn, Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance and Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

     There are Blu-ray releases of Blood-C in Region A Japan, but they are separate volumes of around 4 episodes each, not a complete series, and in any case they are not English friendly. However they are probably the uncensored version – see censorship section. Our Region B release of Blood-C is identical to the Region A locked US release, although the US release includes the series on 2 DVDs as well if that is of interest. Buy local otherwise.

     The latest in the line of anime from the Blood: The Last Vampire creators, the 12 episodes of Blood - C come to spectacular life on Blu-ray. Some reviews maintain that the early episodes drag on listlessly and that the hours are wasted. Don’t you believe it! Blood-C looks beautiful and the series delves deeper into human emotions than the normal slash and blood anime.

     The video and audio are very good. Extras are not extensive; two audio commentaries and trailers, but there is nothing extra in other English friendly regions.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall